Have you ever seen a pond that would be described by the words muddy, dirty, murky, cloudy, red, or chocolate milk?

In fisheries we call these properties turbidity. If turbidity is muddy or dirt colored it can be due to soil sediment displacement caused by either mechanical or chemical disturbances. Mechanical disturbances are basically something physically moving the soil sediment around. This could be "trash fish", wind, livestock, or runoff. Chemical disturbances are due to the charge of the soil particles and the charge of the water. Neither mechanical or chemical disturbances are more common however, I do feel that chemical disturbances are usually much easier to fix.

You can narrow down the cause of soil disturbance in your lake with a very simple and cost free bucket test. The bucket test is done by taking two 5 gallon white buckets and filling them with lake water. The buckets should be placed into the barn and most importantly out of sunlight. One bucket should be just lake water and the second should have one penny sized piece of drywall in the lake water. Each day the buckets should be check to determine if either bucket has starting clearing. If the water clears in the lake water only bucket over about a one week time then the water clarity is being controlled by a physical factor. Therefore you may have something physically disturbing the soil sediment in the lake and you need to take a better look at the lake design, or conduct an electrofishing survey to look for "trash fish". If the lake water only bucket does not clear then the lake turbidity may be controlled by a chemical factor. If the water in the dry wall and lake water bucket clears then an application of gypsum rock would potentially clear the lake and reverse the chemical factors affecting the clarity of the water.

Gypsum (CaSO4) is fairly water soluble mineral that can be found in fertilizers, drywall, plaster, and mixed in many other products. Gypsum is pH neutral therefore its application does not have the risk associated with alum treatments. Gypsum works by attracting clay particles together to form clumps or what we call floccules. As the clay particles continue to clump they eventually increase in weight and settle to the bottom.

Over the past few years I have done dozens of gypsum rock applications to clear turbid lakes. I have applied gypsum powder by boat over the entire water body, I have dumped tubs of large gypsum rock off the side of boats, I have built dump platforms for the front of boats, and I have used a tractor to just pile it up in one location. What I have found is that gypsum powder will result in a more rapid clarity however, it is generally very short lived (less then one month). The larger gypsum rock offers a longer lasting clarity (5+ years in many cases) but will take up to 4 weeks to gain the clarity desired. If using the powder you must spread the gypsum over the entire water body. When using the large rock however, I have seen no difference when water bodies are under 20 surface acres in applications over the entire water body or in just one location.

Luckily for Texas lake owners gypsum rock mines can be found in a couple locations and rock can be hauled directly to your property in large quantities fairly inexpensively. Every lake will need a different application amount to produce the clarity desired. Expect to use 500-1000 lbs per acre ft of water.

When thinking about building a pond, selecting a site is one of the most important decisions you will make. Selecting a site begins with knowing your soil composition and more importantly if your soil has a low seepage and high compaction abilities. You don’t have to be a soil scientist to find the answers to these questions.

Instead you can start by looking at a potential new pond site using the Web Soil Survey Software. What this software does is defines a sites suitability for a specific use. In our case we mean the sites ability to be used for pond construction. The software determines pond construction potential by assessing saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) (how well water moves through a media) and the depth to bedrock or other porous materials. This data is then compared to slope to determine a potential pond construction rating. What you get is a visual, numeric, and verbal reading to help understand the rating. Ratings are from “Not Limited” to “Somewhat Limited” to “Very Limited”. A “Not Limited” rating means the soil site is favorable area for pond construction. “Somewhat Limited” means the site is moderately favorable but has specific limitations. A “Very Limited” site means the site has one of more unfavorable components with limitations that will be extremely difficult to overcome. Rating for each parameter start at 0.00 for no limitations and rise to 1.00 for most limited. On the map each soil types rating is shown with a color of green, yellow, or red based on the pond rating. These ratings should not be the determining factor of where a pond can be built but instead give you an idea of what complications to expect. You must still begin construction by digging a test hole. The software also, does not take into account your watershed which is another important part of building the correct size pond. Any limitation can be overcome with proper planning, and in some cases a large budget.

I will walk you through how to assess a location on your own from your computer.

This will bring up another page which should have an interactive map of the US similar to google maps. You should see several buttons at the top of the map. The first two buttons are zoom in and out. The third button is a hand which allows you to move the map without zooming. Another useful buttons could be the ruler which will allow you to measure distance. You will also need one of the two AOI buttons later.

2) Using the zoom and movement tools find your property/ potential site. 3) Once you find your property use one of the Area of Interest tools (Rectangle AOI or Polygon AOI) to select an area to analyze. The button with the red rectangle gives you a set rectangle AOI and the polygon AOI button lets you define a multi sided area. 4) After you select your AOI the software should update by saying CREATING AOI. Your map then should refresh with your defined area with blue lines through it. Once you are to this point you want to select the tab that says Soil Data Explorer from the 5 tabs at the top of the page.

5) The software will update again and the map should now have orange lines defining soil compositions and soil data markers. On the left side of the map there is a List of Suitabilities and Limitations Ratings. You want to click Water Management.

6) Under water management click Pond Reservoir Areas and then the button that says View Ratings. Do not change the stock settings before clicking View Rating.

7) After clicking the program will say Running “Pond Reservoir Areas” and your map will update with Green, Yellow, and Red colors at each soil site.8) Note the symbol of your specific planned pond site and scroll down. You will see each symbol followed by the soil type name, rating, and most importantly the reasons for each rating numerically. The rating reason is important because it is going to show you what the limitations to your site could be. Remember a 1.00 is the highest and thus most limited.

This software can do much more then determine pond areas, you can find road base material, clay material, show best locations for roads, and determine types of vegetations that will be most productive. You can also assess 100,000 acres at a time if you are looking to purchase your dream property.